We're Sorry
by ReinyDay
Summary: One-shot set after AoE: Five years after Chicago before Sam had seen two of his old friends again. But why are they here? Where were they for the past five years? And more importantly, was Samuel Witwicky happy to see them? Rated T for little swearing - Small hints of Sam/Optimus(Holoform)
Sam didn't want to believe it when he saw it. But unfortunately, God had to make his life so much more difficult each year. Looking down the street of his apartment, he instantly noticed the yellow Camaro and the large Semi parked dangerously close to his building. Their wheels packing the entire parking lot.

His first instinct was to run towards the two vehicles, instantly recognising who it was. His second thought kicked in and forced his body the opposite direction, hoping it was all a hallucination. A relapse even. At least he wouldn't have to remember what he had went through all those years ago.

As soon as he took a step forward and away from the two, he was stopped by a honk behind. Pretending not to notice, he continued walking. A second honk came. The Witwicky deciding to ignore it again. Instead, he quickened his pace, **seriously** hoping it was a relapse. Then the sounds of rolling tires came from behind, signalling him to run, briefcase in hand and the company suit strangling him.

One last honk was given before the Camaro drove quickly ahead of his path, drifting so that it had blocked his route. Sam skidded to a halt, quickly catching his breath and deciding on his words and explanation. Before that could be processed, the vehicle was already switching his form as the car stood on two legs and had two arms at his side, its eyes shining the same bright blue all those years ago.

There was a moment of silence before the human gave up with a sigh. "Hey, Bee…"

The mech gave his traditional whistle before scooping the man up into his arms, careful when giving his hug. Albeit the gesture was sincere and careful, Sam had say otherwise as his face collided with the Cybertronian's chest plate. The human tapped repeatedly on Bumblebee's arm, signalling that he was suffocating. Almost instantly, the man was dropped onto his legs, wiping the dust off his suit.

Just about decided upon his words, they were interrupted once more by the sound of a shifting vehicle. Feeling the dread up his back, he turned around to meet the Prime, standing at his tallest with his arms crossed. At times like these, Sam had to wonder if the leader had done that to boost his ego, trashing it when he thought of who it was that was standing before him.

The silence returned shortly before the large mech spoke. "It has been a while, Samuel…"

"Quite a while, Optimus." The man replied straining his neck as he looked up. For a moment, Sam had thought the giant had shot a smirk, but disregarded it for the moment. He forced a smile up before turning back down.

"Sam, we-"

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm sorry, but I've moved on now. There's nothing left I can help you guys with." The human interjected, fixing his collar as he walked quickly around the bot's foot, down to the apartment he had just been running from.

"That's not why we're here." Optimus stated, turning himself around to watch the Organic's moving feature. For a moment, the idea of stopping had come to mind. For a moment though. Then he began to wonder why no one on the street has awoken yet, with the large footsteps and all. Then, the Autobot leader said the one thing he didn't want to hear.

"We're sorry."

Immediately, the man turned around, almost throwing his suitcase away from the sudden turn. "Sorry? For what? Disappearing for five- **fucking five** \- years? Leaving me without even so much as a goodbye?! And then suddenly returning acting as if nothing has changed?!" Sam shouted, his heart throbbing whilst his eyes began to itch.

There was a moment of silence as Bumblebee turned his optics away from his once-charge with guilt and regret. Optimus had somewhat the same look, the only exception was that he continued to stare towards his old friend.

"Yes."

"Then what was the damn point of coming back?! For an entire year, I searched for you guys. Then I came to truth that you guys had finally left, settling with it so my life could have somewhat of its normalcy. And only a year after did Carly left when you guys said that you'd be there for me!"

"… We're sorry." The Prime apologised, both mechs holding the same sadness in their optics after hearing their friends side of the story.

"No! I didn't need you guys to come back in three years to say it! If you were going to leave, then don't come back!" The man's tears at the brink of his eyes.

"… We're sorry." The leader repeated, finally breaking his gaze. With those words left in the air, Sam turned on his feet and walked. His heart hurt to do so, but he had to. It was three years ago that he had accepted his life as ordinary and mundane and he was going to stick by it. Even if it is not the one he wanted.

Suddenly, a hand clapped onto the man's shoulder, halting him in his tracks. Looking to the corner of his eye, he was met by an unfamiliar face. Raven black hair slicked back with pure blue eyes, holding years of knowledge behind them. His face was stern like how Captain Lennox used to look like, but varying completely. The man behind wore ripped jeans accompanied dark boots. Along with that, he wore a black tank-top with a navy blue jacket over his arms, though it helped to define his muscles. His height was just a head above his while his build was slightly, if not much, buff.

It took a moment to recognise who it was as his eyes landed on the Autobot symbol upon a dog-tag around his neck. The new face pried his lips open and spoke with Optimus' voice. "I'm sorry. But we did so to protect you."

Instanteously, the Witwicky crashed his head into the holoform's chest, sobbing his tears into it while Optimus comforted him. Bumblebee decided best to watch in hope that his friend would forgive him soon. In the middle of his tears, Sam heard the leader speak. "After the battle with Sentinel, the government began to hunt down the Autobots. Unfortunately, they had taken most of us, including Ratchet, the twins, and Arcee."

Sam listened as he remembered all of their faces, providing even more tears to know that they were all gone. The Prime continued, remembering his friends' faces. "Knowing you, you'd have stood up against them, aiding us wherever we went… But we couldn't take the risk of losing you as well. So we disappeared."

From then on, Sam couldn't do nothing else but shiver in the man's arms, understanding how they must've felt when making the decision. "We're sorry for leaving so long. But we had to be sure no one was targeting us anymore. Nor would they target you."

For the next few minutes, the human poured his eyes out, all pains when they weren't there rising from their depths. It hurt to think how things could've been different if they were around. But he couldn't blame them. Like they said, they were being hunted down. And if they were, Sam would bet that during that time in his life that he'd be the one refusing to help them, wanting so peace after the Chicago incident.

"Sam," The holoform called, drawing the man's head up. "I've heard in human cultures that one would feel more at peace when they're on the road with no exact destination." Optimus explained, looking back to his original body which had transformed back to the semi. "Would you like a drive?" He asked.

It took a moment before the organic nodded gratefully, wiping away whatever was left of the tears on his face. The leader smiled before leading the Witwicky over to the vehicle, having a hand on Sam's back whilst drawing comforting circles on it. Bumblebee quickly got the message as he shifted as well, ready to follow behind his leader.

The door opened for Sam as he climbed in, the holoform appearing on the driver's seat before closing its door. The Prime waited until all seatbelts were in place and that the human was completely comfortable before taking to the streets. The yellow Camaro followed closely behind, ready to show his support at any moment.

The vehicles drove around the streets before entering the city, hoping that it'd calm down the organic. And it had worked. After a while, all thoughts left Sam as he felt his mind at rest and his eyes slowly drifting down. His instinct kicked in as his head leant over to the side and rest on the holoform's shoulder. At first, Optimus had been caught off guard by the simple contact, before noticing how the man had calmed himself down.

For a moment, the mech felt a pulse in his spark, feeling warm on his holoform's cheeks. He disregarded it, continuing to drive for however long Sam would need it. He'd want to introduce him to the Yeager family as soon as possible, but that could wait.


End file.
